The Boy Of The Silvery Moon
by Serina Nightsong
Summary: After being rescued from Cadmus by Superman, Superboy must contend with a world that doesn't trust him. Especially the Justice League. ConArtemis


Summary: AU! The Light managed to successfully mimic all of Superman's powers when they had made their clone. With only Superman at his side, Superboy deals with a suspicious league and a world that hates and fears him.

My friend Tawananna let me do a version of the prompt. This should be the last story I upload for a while. I'll update the ones I have more regularly.

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The Boy of The Silvery Moon

Chapter One: Come Home With Me

The first thing Superboy saw of the world outside of Cadmus was a solitary moonbeam peaking through the cracks of the cement building that had fallen on him. Wrestling the debris away from him, Superboy took a large gulp of the warm, evening air as he stood outside for the very first time. The warped creature Doctor Desmond had transformed himself into was still buried under the rubble. Dead or unconscious. Superboy wasn't sure which.

The night breeze soothed his now aching body. He had only been conscious for a few hours now. But his body _hurt_ more than he could have ever imagined it could _._ His once useful solar suit was now only a pile of tattered rags. A large hand shaped bruise was already forming on his chest and he was certain at least one or two of his ribs had cracked.

"Are you okay?"

Superboy looked up to see the main source of his injuries; Desmond had only given him a few scraps. Superman floated majestically above him with the night sky and the moon as his backdrop, having already dug himself out of the mess. The sight gave the teenage clone momentarily pause as he took it in. For a brief second he looked just like the images that Cadmus had always given Superboy of Superman. Certain. Strong. Untouchable. _Invincible_.

The moment only lasts an instant. Superman had gotten off much more lightly in their rough encounter at the bottom of the Cadmus but he had still gotten his share of injuries from the younger boy. The man of steel had a split lip, a bruise on his cheek and what was looking to be the beginning of a black eye. There were several large holes in his cape from Superboy's clumsy attempts to use heat vision for the first time and dust from the collapsed building behind them.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, touching the ground. He moved towards him hesitantly stopping as though there was an invisible barrier separating the two. The man looked uncertain and _human,_ the exact opposite of Superboy's image of the man of steel.

Superboy gave him a rough nod.

"You really got me," Superman said sheepishly, wiping off the blood from his lip. "Been a few month since someone managed to make bleed."

Guilt and shame overcame the clone as he remembered his actions under the G-Gnomes' control. "S-sorry," he stammered.

The man of steel gave him a bright smile. A smile like Superboy hadn't attacked him the moment he got him outside of his pod and the shame only grew. "Like I said before it's not like it was really you in the first place was it now?"

Superboy shook his head.

"Then there's nothing else that needs to be said about that. So don't worry about it." Superman told him still beaming. Behind him, Superboy could see the trademark light of the Green Lanterns in the far off distance. It seemed as though The Justice League had finally arrived. "But it looks like you don't have a place to stay now."

Superboy automatically looked at the building. Dubbilex's words of finding his own way rang in his ears. He was free from Cadmus but what was he supposed to do now?

The green lights were coming closer and Superboy could see several other dark shadows with them.

Superman's eyes are bright and the smile on his face looked unbreakable. "Do you want to come live with me?"

Before he could answer, the entire Justice finally touched down, surrounding them like a circle. The man that the g-gnomes taught him was named Batman was leading the pack. While everyone else reacted with different expressions of shock, he only looked at Superboy with open suspicion.

"Somebody tell me what's going on?"

* * *

He hated this room.

It was disgustingly white. Empty sans the chair he was occupying, a dark desk in front of him and a large mirror that took up a whole side of the room. What bothered him the most was the smell, he was practically choking on the scent of disinfectant. Reminding him far too much of the facility that he had just escaped.

He was not sure how long he was here, ushered into the Hall of Justice and this room by Superman seemingly ages ago while the other man spoke to league. There was no clock or windows to make an estimate of time he has wasted.

His X-Ray vision revealed many more were people gawking at him from the other side of the mirror, assorted members of the league who came and left constantly. But he isn't sure if he should let them know if he could see them.

So he kept quiet and let them watch, tracing lines on the table in front of him with his finger. He could at least entertain himself watching them from the corner of his eyes. One of them, a particularly tall man with a lightning bolt on his costume seemed pretty enthused at his appearance. Skimming through his implanted information, Superboy identified him as Captain Marvel, a serious threat that would be able to bypass his invulnerability with his magic.

Superboy hadn't expected someone so _goofy._

He isn't sure how much longer he remained in the room before an older blonde woman in fishnets opens the door with a bang. He had seen her with the league but his Cadmus education had not found it important to give him information on her. He quickly shifted his focus from the strangers on the other side of the mirror to her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said breathlessly. She placed the pink box and mug down on the table. She searched around the room fruitlessly before stepping out the door once more as quickly as she came.

A few moments later, the blonde reappears. "Was just getting this," she explained, holding a folding chair in her hands. She smiled at him but it was clear it was forced. She opened it and took a seat on the other side of the desk. She looked at him kindly and opened the pink box, revealing assortment of brightly colored donuts. "If you're hungry, you can take as much as you want. I just got this from the bakery on the way here. Plus, I didn't think anyone had a chance to feed you yet."

He was about to reject her offer when his stomach growled loudly in betrayal. If the strange woman heard it, she didn't react. She just crossed her fingers and patiently waited for him to take one.

He grabbed one and took an experimental bite. A river of sweet jelly instantly filled his mouth and the powder sticks to his mouth in an unpleasant way. Still he was hungry and devoured it along with five more in quick succession. As he tried his seventh, the strange texture and taste are far too much to bear and he spits it out into one of the nearby napkins.

"Nobody ever likes coconut," she said blithely. "I'm Black Canary, I'm a member of the justice league and I'm here to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

He nodded.

"What is your name?"

That was a stupid question, he thought. The symbol on his solar suit should have told her enough if Superman hadn't already.

"Superboy," he said humoring her.

"Nice to meet you, Superboy," She said. "Do you have another name?"

"No."

"Okay," She said unperturbed by terse answer. "I just want to go through what happened at Cadmus from your perspective. Just for the record. Is that alright?"

It wasn't like he had much of a choice. But Superboy obeyed without objection. Starting from his education, to waking up and fighting Superman under the G-Gnomes command to finally fighting Desmond and the transformed beast he's become.

"You were the one who hurt Superman?"

"Didn't he tell you?" he asked confused.

"He said it was Desmond." Black Canary said her face unreadable to the clone.

Superboy's not sure why but he felt like he's done something wrong.

Eventually the woman leaves, leaving the Kryptonian genomorph to his own devices in the awful room once more. Through a combination of boredom and exhaustion, the Superboy finally fell asleep.

* * *

Superboy was awoken by someone gently shaking him. "Superboy."

Cracking open one eye blearily, he looked to see Superman standing over him in a fresh new suit. The cut he had already healed and there were no signs of the bruises that Superboy had inflicted on him earlier. Leaving the clone to wonder how long he's been asleep. There's a pile of clothes in his arms.

Superman's face had no trace of the smiles he had before. Kneeling to Superboy's level, he asked, "Are you okay? I'm sorry for the room."

Forcing himself into a sitting position, the clone yawned and said an affirmative. His aching ribs have dulled and he looked down and saw he could see only the faintest outline of Superman's fist on his chest. "What happened?"

"Just paperwork," The older Kryptonian said with a forced laugh. He placed the clothes on the desk. "They don't tell you how much you have to deal with when fighting monsters."

Superboy raised an eyebrow at the obvious lie but remained silent.

"Have-Have you thought about what I asked before?" Superman asked expectantly."Do you want to come live with me? You don't have to if you don't want to. We could find a place for you if you want your space."

"I-," Superboy cleared his throat. "I want to stay with you."

Superman gave him a large grin at that and Superboy felt a warm feeling in chest. The older Kryptonian stood straighter and slid the clothes to him. "Then go change and we can go home and get some breakfast."

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End Chapter


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